January 09, 2013

What’s Your Content Strategy for 2013?

In previous posts, we’ve emphasized the importance of maintaining a strong online presence. The reason is simple: your tenants are online. They hang out on Facebook, share 140-character tweets on Twitter and watch a lot of funny cat videos on YouTube. But what’s your content strategy for 2013?

Content Strategy for Property Management

If you’re like many property management firms, you’ve probably already jumped on the social media bandwagon. And, just like those other businesses, you probably thought it was great – at first. But as time went by, you ran out of steam and didn’t know what to keep posting on those oh-so-many social media channels. Ultimately, your content grew a little stale.

In order to maintain an appealing online presence, it’s vital that you find a way to prevent this staleness from setting in. The best way to do that is to develop a content strategy. PropertyVista has put together a series of tips that will help you tell your story and stay on top of the property management world.

1. Know the answers. If you want to create a consistent voice that resonates with current and prospective tenants, you need to decide what you want to communicate, and understand the people you’re writing for and the mechanisms you’re using. Take some time to develop answers for the following questions:

Who – Who is your audience?

Why – Why are you writing to them?

What – What’s the goal/message/ongoing story? In short, what do you want your audience to know?

Where – Where will the messages be read (e.g., Twitter, Facebook)?

How – How will you sound? How will your voice and tone project the image you’re going for?

When – When will you create and publish the content? Will it be daily, weekly, biweekly?

2. Create value. Of course, your ultimate goal is to promote your building and apartments, but nobody wants to connect to a constant commercial. To attract and retain users, you need to offer them something they value so that they keep coming back. For example, on your website or tenant blog you could write about:

3. Conduct a content audit. By thoroughly reviewing your existing content, you may find that you already have a lot of what you need to maintain a strong online presence. Look for materials you can repurpose, such as photos, online unit tours or brochures. Many of these can be turned into blog posts, Twitter snippets or Facebook updates.

4. Curate and share. You don’t always have to be creating content – you can find great content from others and share it with your community. For example, follow the local restaurants and retweet daily specials. Or connect with a local newspaper on Facebook and share interesting or inspirational posts on your page. If you decide to feature a Top 10 list on your tenant portal, you could link to popular film or music blogs rather than creating your own lists from scratch.

5. Prepare an editorial calendar. The most effective way to ensure you stay on top of your content – and keep it from getting stale – is to plan properly. Your editorial calendar should look at least one month ahead. You can allow room for any topical updates or last-minute developments, but it helps to have a solid foundation to inform what you’re going to be writing about in the coming weeks. Remember to be consistent; it’s not necessary to blog every day, but if you plan to blog, say, once a week, make sure you don’t miss a week.

By clearly establishing what message you want to communicate to your audience, and finding fun, innovative ways to spread that message, you should see a marked increase in online traffic. Plan your 2013 content strategy today and reap the rewards throughout the year.

Web based and simple-to-use, PropertyVista offers a suite of online tools designed for landlords and property managers who understand the importance of reducing vacancies, cutting risk and improving cash-flow through strong tenant relations.